Tuesday, July 28, 2015

I thought writing this final post would be a piece of cake once I announced that I am bringing the blog to a close. Indeed it is the exact opposite...And it's all your fault.

Your loyal readership over the past 9 years and 9 months has been nothing short of amazing. There are a lot movie sites on the Net where you could go--The fact that you came here...and then stayed here is incredibly gratifying. In that sense I see TLR as nothing but a success.

THANK YOU

This is not a decision I made lightly believe me. The injury to my right hand played into the move--My protracted condition means that my ability to do right by you my loyal readers--has been nixed. Therefore even as I explore all of my options going forward I can't do the blog justice-having always maintained that if I couldn't satisfy my perfectionism it would be time to pull the plug. My original thought was to stick around long enough to mark the 50th anniversary of Star Trek but the film gods had other plans......The good news is that the blog will live on through Twitter You can follow me @TheLastReel. I am hoping that we will be able to interact there before too long...

In the absence of TLR please visit my good friend Brittani Burnham at Rambling Film---you will have fun.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

One of the best things about doing TLR has been getting to know filmmakers from all over the world--I took a lot of folks by surprise when I announced that I am bringing the blog to a close this month. Among those saddened by the decision was Gut helmer Elias.

He took time out of his busy schedule to pen a wonderful short essay about the blog. The big E even suggests where my online career should go next. Here it is:

"We came across Tom and his blog back in 2012 when I was promoting my first feature film "Gut". We had been querying and sending out screeners for review to any and all of the movie blogs we could find in an effort to get the word out about the film. We received our fair share of praise and critique for the film and Tom's review fell somewhere in the middle, managing to be both critical and complimentary, but unquestionable fair -- qualities in film reviews that are often lacking in my humble opinion. Still it was a mixed review ultimately, and you might think we would have all left it there, but Tom very graciously followed his review with a written interview of yours truly where I was able to expand more on my intentions with the movie, my experiences making it, and working in independent film overall. It was a kind and generous gesture for Tom to continue the conversation about Gut on his blog, and one that he didn't have to make, but that reflects his dedication and love for movies and respect for those that make them, which this filmmaker and movie buff deeply appreciates. The Last Reel will be missed, Tom, but our friendship will remain, and I'm grateful for that. Perhaps a podcast is in the future? I know someone who would be glad to come on and banter about movies and filmmaking anytime " ~Elias

Thanks for your very kind words--They mean more to me than you know....Our Round 2 chat was even more fun.

According
to their sources, the serial killer Zsasz will fight with
Affleck's Batman in an early Gotham City-set scene. Edge will be the
slimy public relations head of LexCorp
who goes toe to toe with Lois Lane on a TV talk show. Cain
will meet with Luthor's bodyguard Mercy to set up an
assassination. There's also another baddie that is yet to be
cast . In this incarnation Waller's a stern, intimidating senator
who sees Superman as a threat and comes up with a counter
measure to stop him.

El Mayimbe from the Shanlian on Batman podcast has apparently confirmed rumors that Doomsday from the famed Death of Superman comics storyline will indeed appear in the film The design is
said to be very faithful to the comic and looks "incredible".

Singer Justin Bieber uploaded a photo on his Instagram account showing him holding up what appeared to be a personalized script for the film with the hashtag "#Robin" but it turned out to be a prop for a Funny or Die skit.

The DOJ release was delayed a full 10 months for a number of reasons.
As a result, the original release date of July 17th 2015 was
no longer. The studio then targeted a May 6th 2016 release.
They quickly inserted the fantasy Pan into that original slot. The sequel was to go head to head with "Captain America 3" ...Nobody thought that the comic book pics would ultimately share the date--Sure enough DOJ blinked--and will now open on March 25th 2016.

Monday, July 06, 2015

After much thought and consideration I have decided to end publication of this blog later this month.

This is not a decision I make lightly believe me. The injury to my right hand played into the move--My protracted condition means that my ability to do right by you my loyal readers--has been nixed. Therefore even as I explore all of my options going forward I can't do the blog justice-having always maintained that if I couldn't satisfy my perfectionism it would be time to pull the plug. My original thought was to stick around long enough to mark the 50th anniversary of Star Trek but the film gods had other plans...

Late July will see me shift gears using my non computer/typing skills interacting with young folks of tomorrow You should know that I tried to save TLR with voice interactive software==My noisy environment precluded that. I even tried several times to find a writer willing to come on board to help with no success.

I hope my loyal readers understand--and will stick around till the end-Got some things cooking to mark the end...The blog will live on through Twitter You can follow me @TheLastReel

Thanks for your loyalty and understanding It means so much...Any questions? Tweet me

The plan is to stick with Peter Parker rather than introduce the more recent 13-year-old, half black, half Hispanic Miles Morales who became Spider-Man in the "Ultimate Spider-Man"
storyline. It would also confirm rumors that the studio is going
much younger than previous incarnations, and looking at true teenagers
for the role.

Drew Goddard, who was originally slated to write and direct the Spidey spin-off "The Sinister Six," was considered the frontrunner to call the shots--but is moving on.

The film is reportedly a coming of age tale that is targeting a John Hughes-style
blend of emotion and humor amid the superhero stuff . There's also
said to be plans to tell the story over several films with each
covering a year of high school for Peter Parker who is already been
bitten by that radioactive spider.

Parker is expected to make his first appearance in the MCU in "Captain America: Civil War" which has started filming. Parker's scenes were expected to be shot in June.

El Mayimbe says that the title for the solo film--set for a July 28th 2017 release--may be "Spider-Man: The New Avenger". This would certainly clue audiences in on the direction the series is now headed.

The sports star is said to show up during the key scene of Excalibur getting
drawn from the stone by Arthur. In the film, his
character is a disgruntled knight who "gets a little ticked off when
this other fellow, this upstart, is the one who can free the sword." The site claims that that the scene even features some football/soccer jokes which
suggests the film will boast a pop culture-vibe for this version of the Arthurian legend absent in the other film adaptations.

In the classic tale, Guinevere (“I Origins” actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey)
is the young lover of King Arthur before she later betrays him for the
knight Lancelot. Ritchie’s film is expected to focus on Arthur’s
earliest days. Jude Law is in tipped to play the villain in the project.

Eric Bana is set to play Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur, Bana's role ''isn't the biggest'' but the director and studio suits wanted to get a big name for the part and initially went after Liam Neeson for the role but he passed on it.

Djimon Hounsou's
role of Bedivere is described as a "Merlin-esque figure" who trains and
mentors Arthur in the film. Hounsou takes over for Ritchie's "RocknRolla" star Idris Elba who was also reportedly up for the role but couldn't do it due to scheduling issues.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" and "The Fall" star Jamie Dornan
was previously suggested as a potential candidate, but
his commitment to the steamy sex franchise may have blocked him from
doing the role There's bit of irony here considering Dornan replaced Hunnam in the lead role in Grey after he suddenly left the film.

The plan is to stick with Peter Parker rather than introduce the more recent 13-year-old, half black, half Hispanic Miles Morales who became Spider-Man in the "Ultimate Spider-Man"
storyline. It would also confirm rumors that the studio is going
much younger than previous incarnations, and looking at true teenagers
for the role.

The film is reportedly a coming of age tale that is targeting a John Hughes-style
blend of emotion and humor amid the superhero stuff . There's also
said to be plans to tell the story over several films with each
covering a year of high school for Peter Parker who is already been
bitten by that radioactive spider.

Parker is expected to make his first appearance in the MCU in "Captain America: Civil War" which has started filming. Parker's scenes were expected to be shot in June.

El Mayimbe says that the title for the solo film--set for a July 28th 2017 release--may be "Spider-Man: The New Avenger". This would certainly clue audiences in on the direction the series is now headed.

The 75-issue comic follows Dream (aka. Morpheus), the Lord
of the dream world who is held captive for seven decades by an occult
ritual. Having escaped, his kingdom has fallen into disrepair in his
absence and he sets about changing his old ways - hard for a being who
has been around for billions of years.

Both
big and small screen adaptations of Gaiman's comic have been in
development, but none of them have ever really gotten anywhere despite
some major names being mentioned. The story format would also be tricky
to adapt - the elaborate story arcs too complicated and lengthy to
play out on film, while the dense and rich visual world is too
expensive to produce as a TV series.

The series
features various elements of mythology, horror, historical events and
absurdist humor. Characters include Dream's siblings such as his
gothic punk rocker looking sister Death, his talking animal assistants,
and The Corinthian who has two mouths for eyes and who is immortal

There's still no word as to who might play the lead here.

Appearing at the Guys Choice Awards over the weekend, Gordon-Levitt offered up a status update to MTV saying that progress is happening but taking time:

"It's really good, man. It's slow but steady. It's a
really complicated adaptation because those comics, they're brilliant.
But they're not written as a whole. It's not like 'Watchmen,' which is a
graphic novel that has a beginning, middle, and end. 'Sandman' was
written over the course of whatever - I forget exactly, six or seven
years. One at a time. One little 20-page issue at a time. And to try to
take that and make it into something that's a feature film - a movie
that has a beginning, middle, and end - is complicated."

JGL says that those who go in expecting something akin to
the big action-packed blockbusters that the genre mostly consists of
these days--will be disappointed:

"Big spectacular action movies are generally about crime
fighters fighting crime and blowing sh-t up. This has nothing to do with
that. And it was actually one of the things that Neil Gaiman said to
me, he said 'Don't have any punching.' Because he never does. If you
read the comics, Morpheus doesn't punch anybody. That's not what he
does. It's going to be like a grand spectacular action film, but that
relies on none of those same old ordinary cliches. So, that's why it's
taking a lot time to write, but it's going to be really good."

When the film will go into production is anyone's guess. We do know that the film is NOT part of the DC Cinematic Universe.

Last August we found out that 300 scribe Kurt Johnstad and "Gangster Squad" writer Will Beall
have been hired to pen separate scripts for the solo "Aquaman" movie.
The studio wants to then combine them getting the best version from
the two works.

The DOJ release was delayed a full 10 months for a number of reasons.
As a result, the original release date of July 17th 2015 was no
longer. The studio then targeted a May 6th 2016 release. They
quickly inserted the fantasy Pan into that original slot. The sequel was to go head to head with "Captain America 3" ...Nobody thought that the comic book pics would ultimately share the date--Sure enough DOJ blinked--and will now open on March 25th 2016.

The solo Aquaman comes to theaters July 27th, 2018.

Wan will also call the shots on the big-budget film adaptation of the 1980s anime franchise "Robotech"

Of the two, films "Aquaman" is likely to go first since it is further along.
Wan will oversee the script process .

Studio suit Greg Silverman says of Wan: "The Aquaman film will be a
major tentpole picture for us and James' span of work has proven him
able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative
talent and unique voice to the material."

The plan is to stick with Peter Parker rather than introduce the more recent 13-year-old, half black, half Hispanic Miles Morales who became Spider-Man in the "Ultimate Spider-Man"
storyline. It would also confirm rumors that the studio is going
much younger than previous incarnations, and looking at true teenagers
for the role.

The film is reportedly a coming of age tale that is targeting a John Hughes-style
blend of emotion and humor amid the superhero stuff . There's also
said to be plans to tell the story over several films with each
covering a year of high school for Peter Parker who is already been
bitten by that radioactive spider.

Parker is expected to make his first appearance in the MCU in "Captain America: Civil War" which has started filming. Parker's scenes are expected to be shot in June.

El Mayimbe says that the title for the solo film--set for a July 28th 2017 release--may be "Spider-Man: The New Avenger". This would certainly clue audiences in on the direction the series is now headed.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Just five days before filming was to begin, actor Henry Cavill has abruptly pulled out of Simon West's a action thriller "Stratton" due to 'creative differences' over the script says Variety.

Based on the the lead character in author Duncan Falconer's series--the first of eight novels called The Hostage,
follows action from the borders of Kazakhstan and China, to mainland
Europe and then London. The story focuses on John Stratton a Special
Boat Service operative who works with the intelligence services in
Northern Ireland.

The project was originally optioned and
developed by Ileen Maisel and Lawrence Elman
The studio suits said in a statement that it plans to move ahead on the pic:

"It is with great regret that we announce that Henry
Cavill has pulled out of ‘Stratton’ due to creative differences on the
script of the movie. With production due to commence next week, we wish
to keep the production team together and Simon West as director so are
working now to replace Henry. Production will be delayed whilst we do
this. Further announcements will be made in due course."

Now part of the studio's Phase 3 Plans--Created in 1963 in the comics byStan Lee and Steve Ditko--Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
tells the story of an arrogant surgeon who is injured in a car
accident and goes on to become the Sorcerer Supreme of the universe.
Using his magical powers Strange protects the earth from attacks
from other realms.

Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy and Ken Watanabe were said to be the top candidates to play The Ancient One.
The character is the previous Sorcerer Supreme who serves as Strange's
mentor--and also ends up training but ultimately rejecting Baron Mordo, The long rumored bad guy in the film who is said even to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War". Edgar Ramirez has been mentioned to possibly play Mordo in the film.

"12 Years a Slave" star Chiwetel Ejiofor.is being courted
to fill an unspecified role. It has been suggested that Ejiofor is wanted for a bad guy role,
such as Mordo.

"Fast Five" star Gal Gadot's playing Wonder Woman in the pic. The character was created by William Moulton Marston,
(aka 'Charles Moulton') who saw the educational potential of comic
books and in 1941 was hired as a consultant for National
Periodicals/All-Winner Comics which later became DC.

Patty Jenkins is set to helm the pic She steps in for Michelle MacLaren who backed away from the film last month over the standard "creative differences" line. there’s word from Variety (via Collider) posts details that may explain the split.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow's original flick remains one of the best guilty pleasure action flicks. Keanu Reeves played FBIagent
Johnny Utah who goes undercover investigating a group of bank
robbers called the Ex-Presidents who happen to be surfers -wanting to
ride the ultimate wave. Patrick Swayze co-starred as Bohdi.

This new version though trades surfing and skydiving for "the world of international extreme sports" but we don't yet know which of those sports are going to be used as the pic's hook.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Checking the blog email--there were several requests from filmmakers asking me to help promote their latest work-normally I would gladly do so but the injury to my right hand means that I am limited in the number of posts--I want to be fair with everyone--therefore even as I explore all of my options going forward I can't do the films justice-therefore the requests will be put on hold until further notice with my sincere apologies.

Patricia from Buenos Aires suggested voice recognition software--Thanks so much--hope to avoid that route but definitely an option.

Thanks to an easier interface most TLR Tweets come courtesy of Empire Magazine.

Thanks for your loyalty patience and understanding It means so much...

"There are some scenes where we do make reference to
earlier thematic pieces. We haven't done it yet, but we're planning to
do it. It's something that I think will seem very natural and right in
the moments for which we've chosen to do these kinds of quotes. There aren't many of them, but there are a few that I think are
important and will seem very much a part of the fabric of the piece in a
positive and constructive way."

Having composed the scores to the six previous "Star Wars" films, Williams was
asked if he had a particular piece from any of them that stands out:

"I really don't. [Thinks about it for a moment anyway,
then laughs] No. I've played so many of those pieces in concert over the
year, and I think my affection for them, if I can put it that way, is
pretty constant thing. If you pressed me, well, you could probably look
up the concert programs over the years and say, You favored this one
over that one. It's possible, I don't know, but I don't think I can say I
have any favorites."

A series of trading cards recently revealed that Isaac will play a character called Poe Dameron, Ridley is Rey, Boyega is Finn, the dark hooded Sith character is called Kylo Ren, and the soccer ball droid is BB-8. Stitch Kingdom reports that the studio have registered trademark applications for all of these characters and one more - Captain Phasma.

"I'm definitely not in [Episode VII]. As
you know, he's dead by then. I know, we believe in reincarnation,
and holograms… But you know, they are going to take many twists on
the story as the years go on, and I guess they may go back to a time -
I've got no clue, I'm speaking off the top of my head - when the
Emperor ran the universe. And I don't want anyone else to play him,
do I?"

In a recent post Latino Review claims that Palpatine is part of the new trilogy after all--though played by another actor...

James Earl Jones, the man behind the voice of Star Wars villain Darth Vader was asked by Variety recently about the possibility of playing the character in more films, perhaps one of the Spin-Off Films for example set before "Return of the Jedi". He said: "Oh no. I've got no illusions that I will or even hankerings to be in them, but I'm very proud to have been part of the original."

While the character was rumored to be getting a solo film last year-Cinelinx posts that the studios are developing a separate trilogy of spin-off films dedicated to the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi--set between the prequel and original trilogy. Their source says:

"First up, they are not talking about an
Obi-Wan spin-off movie but a trilogy of Obi-Wan movies . I need to
stress that these movies are not connected. They aren't part of a
story arc but three separate Obi-Wan adventures set between Episodes
III and IV. It seems like the three movie ideas are as follows: One set
completely on Tatooine and two where Obi-Wan travels elsewhere in the Galaxy. Qui-Gon Jinn is very much present in these stories. So too is Owen Lars . Several characters from the 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' TV Series would make an appearance. There would be flashbacks to Obi-Wan fighting in the Clone Wars."

Kasdan and Kinberg would also join the projects as producers with Kennedy.
There was a scheduled two-week production hiatus last August to allow for adjustments in the shooting schedule following Ford's recovery from that injury where he broke his left leg. The injury is also said to have happened during filming on a top secret set rather than on the Millennium Falconset as was widely reported.

Production took place mainly at Pinewood Studio in England. The Force Awakens has a confirmed release date of December 18, 2015.